Red Fork

Location: S22-27 TS19N R12E. Post office from 3 Jan 1894 - 31 Jul 1928. The history of Red Fork is found in J M Hall's Beginning of Tulsa - now a part of West Tulsa. <TCHS> Many towns established in Central Tulsa County are now within Tulsa city limits. Red Fork, established in 1884, was located eighteen miles from the junction of the Cimarron and Arkansas Rivers and was for several years the Frisco railroads terminus in Indian Territory. It was an important shipping point for the cattle raised in the Chickasaw Nation, Shawnee and Sac and Fox Indian territories. In 1901, a thirty barrel oil well was brought in on the allotment of Mrs. J. C. W. Bland. This new shallow well attracted widespread attention and within a few months the village of 75 people had grown into a town of 1,500. The original townsite contained 160 acres laid out by the government, and the town of Red Fork was incorporated in 1902. Early businesses included Hall, Hall and Company and the Red Fork Derrick, a local newspaper published by 0. B. Jones. The Presbyterian church was the first built and was used by iterant preachers of various denominations. It also housed the first school in the village. In 1923, Red Fork was annexed into Tulsa.